LONDON: Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has renewed the call for Indian born British author Salman Rushdie to be killed for alleged blasphemy against Islam.
Ali Khamenei told a congregation in Tehran that the last Ayatollah Khomeini’s edict for the killing of the author of “The Satanic Verses” must be carried out.
He was quoted by Tehran radio as saying that the book was still blasphemous against Islam and, therefore, the “death sentence” still remained.
Rushdie, who has been in hiding since the first threat was made by late Ayatollah Khomeini last year, broke his year long silence last week and appealed to “ordinary, decent, fair minded, Muslims” to reconsider his book and hoped that “the way forward might be found through mutual recognition of mutual pain.”
His appeal has already been rejected by the Muslim leaders of Britain who have been carrying on a campaign for the book to be banned in the U.K.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 16, 1990
